


those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it

by ohjeezthatsme



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-21 02:14:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11347761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohjeezthatsme/pseuds/ohjeezthatsme
Summary: The Bella's are getting back together for Cynthia-Rose's wedding.Emily's falling in love with a transfer student from England.Beca and Chloe are still pining for each other and the Bella's are just sick of their hopeless captains and their love for redheads.Set one year after Pitch Perfect 2.





	those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it

Emily cursed her luck as she rushed through the door and searched frantically around the busy café for Benji. A look into the secluded corner they usually sat in revealed her friend playing with a handkerchief to practice his magic. 

Emily bustled over to the table, words already rushing from her mouth, “I’m so sorry I’m late! You wouldn’t believe how many people were coming out of Anderson right when I was. I think I was the only junior outside which means it’s nearly time for studying for exams probably, not that I would rather be studying than meeting you or anything-“ 

“Emily it’s okay. I was just practicing some new magic I learned anyway. I have this new one with the handkerchief, which I guess is kind of similar to the one with the penny, but then a little different because of the context in which you would use the penny versus when you would use the handkerchief.” Emily grabbed Benji’s hand causing him to interrupt his own rambling to look at her sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m rambling aren’t I?”

Emily gave an awkward laugh and grinned, “We both have an issue with that I guess.” She tucked some loose hair behind her ear and settled herself back into seat, “Anyway, have you ordered yet?” 

Benji hunched his shoulders and busied himself with straightening his utensils and the menu on their table. “Uh, no. I mean not yet. I was waiting for you.”

Emily gave him a disbelieving look. “Really? You were waiting for me? No other reason? Such as one barista named Ashley with jerkish tendencies?”

“She’s not a jerk, it’s a just a name. It’s more affectionate than anything. And I was just waiting for her to be working because she makes the best drinks here.” Benji valiantly ignores Emily’s outraged expression and quickly strides across the café to the ordering line leaving Emily huffing in indignation before joining him.

“This isn’t over” Emily’s words were hissed out through clenched teeth but Benji took no notice as he reached the counter. Emily rolled her eyes over the sound of his stilted and awkward attempts at flirting. Benji’s taste in both baristas and coffee left much to be desired but as his designated wingman Emily had to do her part to support him through his attempts to talk to the barista. 

Personally she didn’t understand the attraction to the barista considering she always made the drinks too sweet but Benji apparently liked his drinks sweet. After living with Beca through her coffee fetching internship days Emily could never get a coffee with any sweetener without feeling like she was betraying her mentor. 

“Hey, look who it is. What can I get you?” Emily was shaken out of her musings to meet the eyes of her café nemesis in the form of Ashley the barista.

Emily forced her face into the rough approximation of a smile. “I would just like a regular black coffee please and thank you.” The hint of a smirk across the baristas face didn’t give Emily any good feelings.

“Sure thing. One regular black for Junk coming up.” Emily winced and tried to interrupt but the name had already been written onto her cup. Emily just sighed and moved to the collection area silently cursing Benji and his terrible taste in both coffee and the jerky baristas who make them. 

Both hers and Benji’s phones chimed at the same time sending a jolt through them both and disturbing them from their musings (Emily) and their loving barista gazing (Benji). 

When she read the message, Emily couldn’t keep herself from squealing and hopping on the spot a little bit. A look at Benji and his goofy smile confirms that he just got the same message she did. A look at her phone only caused her smile to grow impossibly wider as she reread the email invitation to Cynthia Rose’s wedding. This was going to not only be a wedding but also a massive Bella’s reunion. 

Emily loved the current team of Bella’s that she captained but there was something untouchable about the original Bella misfits. The thought of reuniting with all of her old friends and mentors filled Emily with such joy that she was sure nothing could bring her down from this high.

“Junk! Order for Junk!”

She was wrong. With a scowl on her face Emily got to the counter to collect her coffee. 

“Junk?”

“Yes, that’s mine.” Emily snatched her coffee and with one last burning glare towards the smirking barista made her way over to their table.

At least the wedding and Bella reunion would be something to look forward to. Then the panic set in, her current Bella’s were good but they weren’t as decorated as the originals. What if they all thought she had failed as a Bella captain and ruined everything they had built and passed on to her? Suddenly Emily was more nervous about the wedding than someone not getting married should be.

-

Beca opened her email and immediately regretted it. The letters of the wedding notification were burning into her brain and she couldn’t look away as she slowly registered the panic swelling within her chest. She quickly closed her emails but was met with the picture of all the Bella’s before graduation and she regretted ever letting that picture be taken let alone set it as a wallpaper. 

Turning away from her computer she yanked her headphones over her head and set about trying to mix some new tracks. Her usual method of distraction began to fail her as she was reminded of all the mistakes she made during her tenure as Bella’s captain. Her headphones, which would usually be her first line of defence against the world, had trapped her in her memories. They prevented her from moving away from her equipment and the swirl of emotional angst worked itself into the beats of her latest mix. All she could see was a swirl of blue eyes and a beaming smile and all she could hear was Titanium soaring through her brain.

She brushed her headphones off and rested her head in her hands. She wouldn’t be able to get anything down with thoughts of Chloe and what could have been floating through her head. Not only that but as soon as those thoughts came they were chased off by her guilt about Jesse. Sure, they were friends now but she still saw when his gaze lingered a little too long and a little too lovingly. 

She knows that he had really loved her, in all the ways that the movies said was true love. Knows that he would kiss her in the rain and make her terrible mixtapes of love songs and play them through a boom-box. She knows that he loved her, that she loved him too, just not enough to stop blue eyes and red hair seeping through her thoughts. She so wished she had been brave that night at Nationals. That she had turned to her right rather than run to her left and off the stage into his arms.

If she had been a little braver, a little less afraid, had listened to her heart rather than her head than maybe three people wouldn’t be plagued by ‘what if’ and would be a little less broken. Bravery had never been Beca’s specialty but denial was; so rather than continue to relive her regrets she did the only thing she could do, accepted the invitation and found the biggest bottle of booze she had to drown out her regrets for one night. 

At least her friends were happy.

-

Emily was not happy. 

She really hated this café but right now she needed coffee. She heard from someone that caffeine can solve problems and she had a big problem. The wedding meant a reunion which meant Chloe and Beca were going to be together again in a romantic setting. Everyone knew that those two would dance around their tension and make the wedding awkward for everyone. She needed a plan, which meant she needed caffeine. If only Ashley the barista wasn’t the worst and would hurry with her coffee then Emily could start on a solution.

“Junk! Coffee for Junk!”

Emily only heard the call distantly she was so deep in thought. When she went to get up and go to the counter she saw someone already there and reaching for her coffee. Now usually Emily would pause for a minute because the redhead reaching for her coffee was easily one of the most attractive people Emily had come across. But Emily wouldn’t give away her coffee to anyone right now, attractive or not. Ashley, jerk that she is, wasn’t stopping the redhead from taking her coffee which left Emily with only one option. 

She quickly snatched the coffee from the redhead. “Nope, that’s mine pal! I am Junk, Junk is me!”

As soon as the words left her mouth Emily wanted the ground to swallow her whole. Ashley the jerk barista was barely trying to conceal her laughter which was another reason for Emily to dislike her. The redhead just looked shocked and confused, Emily was still waiting on the ground to open and for her to disappear from this situation. 

“I’m so sorry. It’s just that I really need this coffee right now. You see I have this problem that I need to solve and someone once told me caffeine is good for that.” The redhead was only looking more confused and a little alarmed prompting Emily to try to explain faster. “It’s just that my last name is Junk and despite me always asking them not to write it down they always do. And then you were going for the coffee and I didn’t mean to startle you but I just really needed this.” Emily raised the cup and was about to continue before Ashley somewhat redeemed herself by interrupting with a coffee for ‘Jenny”. 

A petty side of Emily was annoyed that Ashley was obviously enjoying her embarrassment so much but a larger side was distracted by the redhead trying to talk to her. 

“-ing to take your coffee. It’s just that I was led to believe that the American baristas often got names horribly wrong. So I thought that they somehow got Junk from Jenny.” A British accent. The redhead, Jenny Emily’s brain hissed, had a British accent. Emily was sure she was only blushing because of her embarrassment. Not at all because of the attractive redhead with an equally attractive accent. Who was looking at Emily expectantly, she had been so busy swooning she forgot she was in a conversation.

“No, no, no. It’s fine really. They do have issues with names sometimes,” Emily made sure to say it loud enough for Ashley to hear from where she was obviously eavesdropping. She received an eye-roll and a dirty look for her troubles but the payback was worth it. Hoping that Jenny wouldn’t notice that she had been so distracted during her apology, Emily gestured for Jenny to sit at her table. “So, um, you go to Barden?” 

Jenny tucked some loose hair behind her ear which distracted Emily again before her accent broke through Emily’s haze, “Yeah, I just transferred here from UCL in London. Thought I would give America shot while getting through my degree. Biology major, what about you? What brought you to Barden?”

“Oh, I’m the captain of the Bella’s. Which works well because I’m majoring in Music. But mainly it was the Bella’s. I’m a legacy so that was the main reason I wanted to come here.” Emily’s anxiety caused her to gesture wildly with her hands as she spoke. When she realised what she was doing, Emily snapped her hands down to her lap before wrapping them both around her coffee to take a gulp in the hopes of settling her nerves. 

Jenny gave a confused smile and fidgeted with her coffee cup. “The Bella’s? I don’t know what that is I’m sorry. Is it a sports team?” Emily blushed and fiddled with her fingers to distract herself.   
It’s not that she’s embarrassed about being a Bella, she couldn’t be prouder to be part of a national title winning team. It’s just that every time she’s told someone not in the acapella world about the Bella’s, they laugh at the idea of competitive acapella. She really wanted to impress Jenny.

“It’s, uh, actually an acapella group. We’ve got a couple of national titles and we won worlds once.” Emily listed off some of the key achievements of the Bella’s to try and convey the fact that, in her own social world, she was one of the best. She needn’t have bothered, Jenny was looking at her with a teasing grin edged with awe.

“Well then, had I known you were a world champion I would have tried to take your coffee sooner.”

Emily’s brows furrowed in confusion. “You meant to take my coffee?”

“No but had I known that the order for Junk had belonged to a world champion as interesting as you I would have tried to break the ice somehow.” Emily blushed and ducked her head as she gave an embarrassed chuckle. She looked back up to find Jenny smiling brightly at her and couldn’t help but smile back.

-

It turns out that Jenny’s dorm is surprisingly close to the Bella house, only a 15 minute walk. 

(Not that Emily was counting or thinking about how close they were. Not at all.)

Since they lived so close Jenny and Emily started to hang out more, especially with the looming threat of exams. They would get together to study, not that Emily knew anything about biology or Jenny was any help with her music classes or Bella stuff. 

It didn’t take long for the Bella’s to notice something going on with their captain and it didn’t take them much longer to figure out what it was. When Jenny dropped by the Bella house to return the jacket Emily had lent her, the Bella’s jumped at the chance for embarrassing the captain. It wasn’t as bad as Emily had thought it would be but that might be because Jenny has a really nice laugh so it was okay. 

(It was even better when she smiled and grabbed Emily’s hand during her forced tour of the house.) 

Emily finally figured out that she had gotten in deeper than she thought with Jenny when she borrowed a bio textbook from one of the Bella’s just so she could help Jenny study. When the other Bella’s found her staring blankly at the textbook a small cheer went up around the house as money changed hands. Drinks were poured and a party celebrating her revelation was promised to be held after the semester ended.   
Despite her own shock at her feelings, Emily was told that everyone else had known about it since the first time Jenny came by. 

(Emily spent the hour after Jenny had left smiling at her hand that she had held.)

They reached out to the original Bella’s and were given specific instructions on how to handle a ‘clueless captain and her redheaded lady love’. That just reminded Emily of all the drama that surrounded the wedding and Beca and Chloe and – 

“Oh my God. I am turning into my aca-parents.”

-

Chloe couldn’t be more excited to go back to Barden. Not only just Barden but back to the Bella’s; the best family that Chloe has ever known. She couldn’t be prouder of Cynthia Rose. When she got the invite, Chloe burst into such a loud excited scream that she set some dogs off a couple of streets over and her neighbour came over to check on her. 

It wasn’t just the wedding and the Bella’s that Chloe was excited for. Well it was one Bella in particular that really got Chloe excited and nervous for this trip back to the place that had become her home. 

Beca.

Beca was one of the only things Chloe really had regrets about from her entire time at Barden. She was never far from Chloe’s thoughts and it often left the normally bubbly redhead despondent and regretful. 

Not much hurt her as much as the memory of their shot, their chance being passed over by Beca as she ran right passed Chloe and into Jesse’s waiting arms. Nothing really hurt her as much as that and for the next four years every time she and Beca were so close she would be harshly reminded that Beca wasn’t hers. 

(Wasn’t hers to touch, wasn’t hers to kiss, wasn’t hers to love.)

It was a painful couple of months after that but Chloe is resilient and was never going to let her own fears and inconvenient feelings get in her own way. She thought that they might have another shot in their last year but then in the blink of an eye they were gone and everything was finally over.

For the longest time after World’s Chloe thought that that was it. That was the end of their story, the chapter is over and the book is shut, no more Beca and Chloe but then she got an email.

If there’s one thing Chloe can claim as a weakness it’s her willingness to hope and believe in the smallest chance. Now that they’re all coming back to the place it all started Chloe can’t help but feel it’s fate. Not only are they all back at Barden but they’re all back for a wedding. There’s no sign bigger than that. If they can’t make it work now than it never will. And then Chloe will be the same as she was throughout Barden, the ever-present best friend who loves her in secret. 

Chloe can’t let things go back to how they were. 

Not this time.

-

Before she knows it all the original Bella’s are back in town and Emily is the baby Bella again. She hadn’t realised just how much she had missed the chaos of that first year until she was experiencing it again. She loved her current Bella’s and they were a handful as well but the chaos that surrounds the original Bella’s is something unique. 

The night that the originals arrive, they take the current Bella’s out as a celebration. When Stacie and Cynthia Rose found out about Jenny they insisted she come along, Emily had nearly gotten Jenny out of it when Fat Amy found out about her. Jenny had no choice from that moment and when she was faced with the enthusiastic and slightly terrifying Australian, Jenny inched herself behind Emily and agreed quickly. Fat Amy and Stacie prove to be a deadly combination as they find a local bar with enough room and alcohol to sustain two generations of Bella’s in a matter of seconds.

 

Things were going as well as to be expected with the mix of the two groups. 

Only five laws had been broken so far and they hadn’t been kicked out so Emily was going to notch it up as a win. That was until she saw Jenny being cornered by Stacie, Cynthia Rose and Fat Amy. Nothing about that could end in a win for Emily. 

-

“So, we hear you’re hooking up with our baby Legacy.”

Jenny had been nursing her drink while observing the Bella’s when the vaguely threatening voice sounded behind her. Turning slowly, Jenny was met with the foreboding wall of Stacie, Cynthia Rose and Fat Amy who had trapped her between them and a table. 

“I’m sorry?” Jenny was desperately trying to calculate how fast and flexible she would need to be to duck under the table and escape before one of the three Bella’s could grab her. That plan was quickly scrapped with a look across the bar to Emily who looked terrified and was trying to get over to them but was caught in the mob of people in the way.

Cynthia Rose moved to block off her view of Emily with a knowing smirk. “You’re after Legacy. Now we care a lot about all of our Bella’s-“

“- Even if we’re not sure how long they’ve been here,” Fat Amy cuts in with a suspicious look at Denise and Ashley. Stacie snapped her fingers in front of Amy’s face to refocus her on their current interrogation. “Possible ghosts aside, we have it on good intel that you’re trying to really give Legacy’s pipes a workout. If you know what I mean.” 

Jenny couldn’t decide whether that was horrifying or hilarious, by the looks on their faces neither could the other two. Amy’s lecherous overblown wink pushed Jenny over the line and she couldn’t stop the laugh that surged up.

“My god, we really are just friends. I’m not trying to do anything to her pipes. I’m far too fond of her voice to do anything to it.” 

“Yeah?” Cynthia Rose cocked an eyebrow. Combined with her smirk Jenny could definitely see the appeal. “Chloe had a similar reaction when Beca first joined the Bella’s. You looking for a bit of a duet there, Ginger Spice?”

“Heavens no!” Jenny laughed out. “It would sound wretched.”

“I’m sure the two of you would make lovely music together. Don’t you think Amy?” Stacie teased as she leaned into Jenny’s space. Amy guffawed and made various crude gestures which sent Jenny’s face a vibrant red.

“I’d, uh, I’d have to disagree,” Jenny laughed, despite her embarrassment the Bella’s were very fun to be around. “I can’t carry a tune for the life of me.”

Stacie winked at her as she straightened up. “Neither can Amy, so that’s not a big deal.”

“OI!”

“Oh man.”

Fat Amy’s exclamation and Cynthia Rose’s groan drew the attention of some of the surrounding Bella’s. And if they weren’t alerted by that then they were alerted by Amy’s cry for a karaoke challenge. 

In the melee of all of the Bella’s rushing to the stage and wrangling a microphone and sound system, Jenny was able to slip away and find Emily. When she spotted her, Emily drunkenly stumbled over to her friend, slurred words already pouring from her lips.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry about them, I know they can be intense but they do mean well. I mean, they definitely didn’t mean anything by whatever they said and I swear that they’re all the best people but sometimes-“ 

Jenny interrupted Emily’s apologetic ramble by grabbing her arm and using it to drag the reigning Bella’s captain impossibly closer.

“It’s fine. Your friends are great,” Sounds of fighting from the stage drew their attention to the current brawl that was taking place over who got to sing what. Emily winced and tightened her grip on Jenny’s hand as Amy tackled two of the new Bella’s to the floor. “That being said, I’m going to stick close to you for the rest of the night. I think it might be the safest place for me.”

“Then you would be wrong.” 

They both turned to see a smirking Beca who pointedly looked to their tight grip on each other before raising an eyebrow s she continued, “Legacy here swore to do a song. Seeing as Bella’s gatherings usually end in singing, it’s a tradition for the captain to perform.” Beca took hold of Emily’s free arm as Jenny reluctantly relinquished her hold on the Bella captain. “Come on Casanova. Let’s go woo your lady love from across the pond.”

“Good luck!” Jenny called as the brunettes melded into the mass of Bella’s surrounding the stage. She caught sight of Emily as she shoved onto the stage by some very enthusiastic hands. The alcohol in her system along with her natural unco-ordination caused her to trip up the last few stairs on the stage but she managed to stay upright by grabbing the mic stand. 

Jenny released the breath she had been holding and started to clap and cheer with the rest of their party as the opening notes of one of the top 40 love songs filtered through the speakers. She was being jostled and bumped around by the crowd of acapella singers but when Emily’s eye met hers as she sang something just clicked. Once their eyes met Jenny realised that she didn’t really have a problem with overenthusiastic friends, or wild karaoke throwdowns. As long as she was there with Emily it didn’t matter at all.

It was at the time of that thought that Jenny fully realised that everyone was right and she did want Emily. As sure as she was that she wanted Emily, Jenny had no idea if the feeling was mutual. A look at the stage, Emily laughing madly at the backup dancing of Stacie and Fat Amy, resolved Jenny to the fact that requited or not she was hopelessly gone for the Bella captain. 

(She didn’t really have a problem with that.)

-

 

The wedding came around faster than any of them thought it would. Before they knew it they were throwing together the wedding decorations and putting together the music and performance that the Bella’s would be doing during the wedding. The Bella gossip chain during this time was put into overdrive with the possible formation of a new couple within the Bellasphere of Jenny and Emily. 

The original Bella’s couldn’t stop the smiles that would form when they saw their baby Bella and her new “friend”. History repeated itself with the misfits that formed the Bella’s and now it’s repeating itself with another couple obviously pining for each other but being oblivious to the other’s affection. 

With all the drama and heartache that they all saw throughout their years with Beca and Chloe, they refused to let another couple go through the same pain that they saw their friends go through. Judging by the looks flying between Beca and Chloe the pain that their friends are still going through. 

As with anything that the Bella’s care about, they’ve made a bet out of it. 

The bet is on which couple get together first; Beca and Chloe or Emily and Jenny. 

Cynthia Rose is the bookie because all of the Bella’s know that she isn’t allowed to gamble, she had to fight to be a part of the bet even as a bookie. Even then she has the Bella’s checking in on her constantly. 

(Stacie let her go in on her $50 bet on Beca and Chloe.)

Years later and they still have faith in those two crazy kids. This entire thing was supposed to be about love and whatever it was between those two, Cynthia Rose was sure it was love.

Despite her faith and hope in Beca and Chloe sorting through their issues and finally getting together, Cynthia Rose sees it as her duty to help out her baby Bella as well. 

She doesn’t invite Jenny to the wedding, not because she doesn’t like her but because Emily obviously needs a push. Stacie claims it’s her job as maid of honour to assist Cynthia on all of her schemes and so she’s the one who subtly nudges Emily into asking Jenny to be her plus one. The scheme goes off without a hitch and soon enough Cynthia Rose receives a confirmation of Emily and her plus one.

The rehearsal dinner goes as expected: three small fires quickly put out and a minimum amount of blood. The best score for a Bella’s get together yet. Most of the commotion was surrounding the announcement of maid of honour with Amy pulling multiple attempts to steal the title from her.

(Stacie is an aeronautical engineer working with NASA and is an original Bella, she can handle Amy. It’s Lily she has to watch for.)

-

Even at the rehearsal dinner Beca was unable to get a glance of the other bride-to-be. Strengthening her theory that this is all just a set-up by her conniving friends to torture her with the questions that haunt her when she’s around Chloe. 

(She asks around and discovers that no-one else has met the fiancé and then she’s seriously concerned that Cynthia Rose might have met her fiancé online and is being catfished by a master.)

She goes to share her concerns with Cynthia Rose but is side-tracked by the sound that will always instantly turn her head and attract her full attention. She scans the room to find the source of the sound and eventually finds her talking and laughing with Emily and her girl. Chloe bumps Emily’s shoulder and grins which cause a smile to leak onto Beca’s face as well. 

Despite the painful memories that swell up when she’s around Chloe, once she’s with her there’s nowhere she’d rather be. She glances back towards where Cyn Rose is sitting with Stacie and some of the other guests and even if this is all an elaborate catfish; the gang’s back together, things are going well, and Legacy’s falling head over heels. 

Beca weighs up all the good that has come out of this and decides that even if this does end badly, what’s the harm in letting the good carry on for a little longer?

-

Chloe loves all of the Bella’s, some more than others (not that it’ll go anywhere, but you know, fool for love and all). So she’s the least likely to have an issue as they try and plan out who is paired up to walk down the aisle in the wedding party procession. Chloe figures she’ll be paired off with Aubrey as she’s the one with the highest tolerance for Aubrey’s lectures on efficiency and the proper wedding walk. 

“And who are we going to pair up with Chloe?” Stacie has obviously been listening to Aubrey because she has a clipboard and is the picture of organised precision. 

(Chloe is very impressed.)

“I refuse to lose any more money on you two.” Chloe barely heard Aubrey’s harsh whisper before she felt a hand shoving her forward. Forward into the arms of Beca who instinctively tried to catch her as she fell.

Stacie’s face broke into a wicked grin and she nodded at Aubrey before scribbling on the clipboard. “Well, that settles that. Now onto Amy.”

As Amy and Stacie began to bicker over whether or not she could mermaid dance down the aisle or not, Chloe turned a light red shade and pushed her hair behind her ear. “Thanks for that. I guess Aubrey still hasn’t forgiven me for the positivity requirement on her notes just yet.”

Beca arched an eyebrow and her lips turned up slightly leaving Chloe melting just a bit. “Postivity requirement?”

Breaking eye-contact to try and regain herself, Chloe brushed her hair behind her ear. “The Bella’s performances? Aubrey gets a hold of a video of them and she had a list of critiques to go through with Emily,” Chloe gives her a mischievous grin, “but I made her add a nice thing with every criticism. She was struggling by the end but I think she did it.” 

Beca started smiling halfway through her explanation and by the end she was outright laughing. “That’s great. I’m sure Legacy will really love it. She’s gotten better but she still just loves all that ‘past Bella’ stuff.”

“Can you blame her? I mean, we are pretty great.” Chloe shifted to Beca’s side and bumped their shoulders together as they watched the rest of the Bella’s goof around. 

 

If she closed her eyes for a second, Chloe could fool herself into thinking that they were back in college and it was just her and Beca watching their Bella’s goof around at practice. For a second it was like the old days when it felt like nothing bad could touch her as long as she was with the Bella’s and had Beca by her side. If she closed her eyes and concentrated she could hear the music slowly growing every second she was with Beca. 

For a second, she is titanium.

-

Beca couldn’t believe her luck. 

She hadn’t decided if the luck was good or bad yet but she was now walking down the aisle right next to Chloe. A scenario she had daydreamed about over the past couple of years in her quieter moments but not something she ever saw happening for real. It didn’t even matter that it wasn’t actually their wedding, all that was going through her mind at that moment was ‘wedding, Chloe, aisle’. 

That was enough for her traitorous heart to start pounding and a familiar beat begin to swim through her head. Chloe was here, and she was the most perfect thing Beca had ever seen. The rest of the world just muted and faded into the background as Beca couldn’t take her eyes off Chloe in her bridesmaid dress. Even though it was the same dress somehow it just looked better on Chloe than it did on anyone else.

(It was rare that Beca ever had the urge to thank Aubrey, but with Chloe smiling next to her at a wedding right now she could throw herself at her feet and perform the entire outdated choreography of the original routines.)

Beca could see Jesse standing with Benji off to the side as they began lining up to practice the aisle walk. He met her eyes and shot her a small smile. Beca did her best to smile back but it was more of a grimace, as good a guy as Jesse was she could still see how deeply she had hurt him, but here he was trying to support and reassure her still. 

In order to distract herself from the fact that the man who loved her was now going to watch her walk away with the woman she is too chicken to admit she loves, Beca focused on her feet. She was concentrating so hard on the timing of her feet and the steps of the music as they proceeded down the aisle, she didn’t even notice the weight of Chloe’s contemplative gaze resting solely on her. 

-

Walking down the aisle next to Beca would have been like one of her dreams come to life a few years ago. Now it's something more painful with the knowledge that Beca didn't want her, didn't choose her. And now she had Jesse giving her these sad looks which make her feel guilty and mad because he won, he got the girl and the movie ending. She got the leftover what ifs' and maybe's. She got to play the supporting role to their love story. She had to watch as Beca ran from the stage into his arms. The perfect metaphor for the choice Beca made.

Chloe was the stage, the stage represented most of her dreams and was such a big part of her life. Jesse was the audience, a crucial and iconic requirement for a movie buff.

Beca walked away from the stage, away from Chloe. 

But now she's the one walking down the aisle with Beca on her arm and he's the one watching from the sidelines as the girl he loves walks away with someone else.

Chloe looks down at Beca who's concentrating so hard on timing her steps with the music. Her concentrating face was one that Chloe had seen many times before, late nights working on sets or even just studying for exams. Chloe knew that face, Chloe knew nearly every Beca face and what it meant. 

Chloe knew Beca. She loved Beca. She knew that Beca had loved her too but had gotten scared. Chloe had been scared as well but looking at her now, Chloe wasn't scared anymore. 

She stopped at the realisation. Which, in turn, stopped Beca and all of the procession behind them were forced to stop. In the background all of the original Bella’s could tell that this was the moment and were all quietly jostling for the best viewing position. This had been building since the moment Beca and Chloe had met and the Bella’s would be damned if they wouldn’t have the best view of their friends finally getting their happy ending. 

This was their moment. The choice between happiness and heartbreak. 

Chloe was so entranced by her thoughts about Beca and what this meant that she almost forgot where she was. It was Beca slightly brushing her fingers with her own that snapped Chloe back to reality. She glanced down at their hands and gathered every bit of will she had before she looked into Beca’s eyes and forced the sentence out. "Beca, are you still scared?”

The room held its’ breath. Everyone knew they belonged together but they knew that years ago. It wasn't a question of whether they belonged together but whether they were brave enough to let themselves. 

Not even Amy was going to ruin this moment. 

(Something Aubrey had enlisted Lily to help with).

-

Jesse watched as the girl he was in love stared at the girl she was in love with. He realised suddenly that their romance was never the true love he thought it was. 

That kiss at nationals wasn't the end of a love story, it was the middle of one. It was the middle of their love story. And watching Beca reach up to brush Chloe's hair back, he realised that he was okay with that. 

He was the movie guy, he knew that no matter what true love will always find a way.

-

Beca couldn't breathe.

She couldn't think of a way out of this.

Chloe was still looking into her soul with those too blue eyes of hers. She always was able to look beyond whichever mask Beca choose to wear, Chloe would always see her. 

Last time she was too scared to accept this, too scared to see Chloe. But for the first time, Chloe had let her hide behind a mask. A mask that got tighter and tighter until she felt like she couldn't breathe, she was suffocating under the weight of that mask and the Beca she was pretending to be wearing it. And Chloe was the key then, just like always. Chloe is always the key to unlocking Beca, everyone knows that. Even Beca knows that.

It's that fact and a million others that allows Beca to shore up her courage, square her shoulders and return Chloe's eyes as she answers her.

"I love you too much to be afraid anymore." Chloe's resulting smile was brighter than anything Beca had ever seen and she fell even more in love.

Unable to stop the impulse, Chloe leaned down and kissed Beca. A kiss that had been hanging in the space between them for years, a tension that was finally relieved. And if her squeak was anything to go by, Beca wasn't exactly expecting it. She adapted quickly enough though, responding to Chloe with the same passion and intensity that she poured into everything that she loved. 

The only thing that broke them out of their bubble was Amy crashing into the both of them along with all of the other Bella’s in what had to be the first dogpile in a church.

Amongst all the commotion no one noticed Emily slip her hand into Jenny's and squeeze tightly before they joined the pile on. 

The wedding went off with a hitch. 

(Despite Beca being adamant that Cynthia Rose’s bride didn’t exist right up until she walked down the aisle.)

The afterparty was the biggest party any of the Bella’s had ever experienced. Not often does a chance come when they get to celebrate three of their friends finding happiness, true real-deal happiness. So distracted they were with the final coming together of Beca and Chloe that no one noticed how much closer Emily and Jenny seemed until after the wedding. 

When they did discover the secret glances and gentle touches exchanged between the two the original Bella’s were all for scheming to get the two of them together immediately.

(None of them could stand to watch another relationship go the way that Beca and Chloe’s did. If they could spare Legacy and Ginger Spice those years of pain, they were going to do it.)

This idea was firmly shut down by Beca with Chloe standing beside her, hands intertwined. 

“We’re not meddling in Legacy’s love life. That is her business and if she wants to wait to go out with Ginger than that’s what she’s going to do and no one is going to mess with that.”

Amy rolled her eyes, “Mate, you’re only saying that because you don’t want Legacy to turn out to be less of a chicken than you were. Captains and their gingers are gonna be a new tradition. I can feel it. Can’t you, Red?” 

Chloe didn’t even register the lewd wink, just beamed down at hers and Beca’s intertwined hands, “Beca’s right. Leave them to figure it out on their own.” She turned a gentle, loving smile on Beca, “However long it takes, it’ll be worth it.”

Beca blushed and rolled her eyes but all of them could see the adoration in her eyes as she looked back at Chloe, "Ugh. You're so in love. It's sickening."

That didn't stop Stacie and Cynthia Rose from slipping Emily some 'gifts'. She was still their baby Bella, it was their duty. When Emily found them she went bright red and couldn't look at Jenny for 3 hours.

(A few weeks later Stacie and Cynthia Rose both received gift baskets and thank you cards from Jenny.)


End file.
